Journal of Parasitology

Published by: American Society of Parasitologists



Journal of Parasitology 94(3):616-621. 2008
doi: 10.1645/GE-1368.1

Prevalence and Abundance of Fleas in black-tailed Prairie Dog Burrows: Implications for the Transmission of Plague (Yersinia pestis)

Dan J. Salkeld* and Paul Stapp

Department of Biological Science, California State University, Fullerton, California 92834-6850.

101*IUCN—The World Conservation Union, 1630 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20009

Plague, the disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, can have devastating impacts on North American wildlife. Epizootics, or die-offs, in prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) occur sporadically and fleas (Siphonaptera) are probably important in the disease's transmission and possibly as maintenance hosts of Y. pestis between epizootics. We monitored changes in flea abundance in prairie dog burrows in response to precipitation, temperature, and plague activity in shortgrass steppe in northern Colorado. Oropsylla hirsuta was the most commonly found flea, and it increased in abundance with temperature. In contrast, Oropsylla tuberculata cynomuris declined with rising temperature. During plague epizootics, flea abundance in burrows increased and then subsequently declined after the extirpation of their prairie dog hosts.

Received: June 26, 2007; Revised: October 10, 2007; Accepted: October 10, 2007



LITERATURE CITED

Adjemian, J. Z., P. Foley, K. L. Gage, and J. E. Foley. 2007. Initiation and spread of traveling waves of plague, Yersinia pestis, in the western United States. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 76:365375. PubMed
Antolin, M. F., P. Gober, B. Luce, D. E. Biggins, W. E. Van Pelt, D. B. Seery, M. Lockhart, and M. Ball. 2002. The influence of sylvatic plague on North American wildlife at the landscape level, with special emphasis on black-footed ferret and prairie dog conservation. Transactions of the 67th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference 67:104127.
Brinkerhoff, R. J., A. B. Markeson, J. H. Knouft, K. L. Gage, and J. A. Montenieri. 2006. Abundance patterns of two Oropsylla (Ceratophyllidae: Siphonaptera) species on black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) hosts. Journal of Vector Ecology 31:355363. CrossRef, PubMed
Collinge, S. K., W. C. Johnson, C. Ray, R. Matchett, J. Grensten, J. F J. Cully Jr., K. L. Gage, M. Y. Kosoy, J. E. Loye, and A. P. Martin. 2005. Testing the generality of a trophic-cascade model for plague. EcoHealth 2:111. CrossRef
Crosby, L. A. and R. Graham. 1986. Population dynamics and expansion rates of black-tailed prairie dogs. In Proceedings of the 12th Vertebrate Pest Conference, T. P. Salmon (ed.). University of California, Davis, California, p. 112–115.
Cully, Jr, J. F., A. M. Barnes, T. J. Quan, and G. Maupin. 1997. Dynamics of plague in a Gunnison's prairie dog colony complex from New Mexico. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 33:706719. PubMed, CSA
Cully, Jr, J. F. and E. S. Williams. 2001. Interspecific comparisons of sylvatic plague in prairie dogs. Journal of Mammalogy 82:894905. CrossRef
Cully, Jr, J. F., L. G. Carter, and K. L. Gage. 2000. New records of sylvatic plague in Kansas. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 36:389392. PubMed, CSA
Enscore, R. E., B. J. Biggerstaff, T. L. Brown, R. E. Fulgham, P. J. Reynolds, D. M. Engelthaler, C. E. Levy, R. R. Parmenter, J. A. Montenieri, and J. E. Cheek. et al. 2002. Modeling relationships between climate and the frequency of human plague cases in the southwestern United States, 1960–1997. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 66:186196. PubMed, CSA
Eskey, C. R. and V. H. Haas. 1940. Plague in the western part of the United States Part 1: Introduction of plague and its spread. Public Health Bulletin 254:183.
Gage, K. L. and M. Y. Kosoy. 2005. Natural history of plague: Perspectives from more than a century of research. Annual Review of Entomology 50:505528. CrossRef, PubMed
Hanson, D. A., H. B. Britten, M. Restani, and L. R. Washburn. 2007. High prevalence of Yersinia pestis in black-tailed prairie dog colonies during an apparent enzootic phase of sylvatic plague. Conservation Genetics 8: 789–795.
Holmes, B. E., K. R. Foresman, and M. R. Matchett. 2006. No evidence of persistent Yersinia pestis infection at prairie dog colonies in north-central Montana. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 42:164169. PubMed
Hubbard, C. A. 1968. Fleas of western North America; their relation to the public health. Hafner Publishing Co., New York, New York, 533 p.
Kartman, L., S. F. Quan, and R. R. Lechleitner. 1962. Die-off of a Gunnison's prairie dog colony in central Colorado. II. Retrospective determination of plague infection in flea vectors, rodents, and man. Zoonoses Research 1:201224. PubMed
Krasnov, B. R., I. S. Khokhlova, L. J. Fielden, and N. V. Burdelova. 2001. Development rates of two Xenopsylla flea species in relation to air temperature and humidity. Medical and Veterinary Entomology 15:249258. CrossRef, PubMed, CSA
Lechleitner, R. R., L. Kartman, M. I. Goldenberg, and B. W. Hudson. 1968. An epizootic of plague in Gunnison's prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni) in south-central Colorado. Ecology 49:734743. CrossRef
Pauli, J. N., S. W. Buskirk, E. S. Williams, and W. H. Edwards. 2006. A plague epizootic in the black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus). Journal of Wildlife Diseases 42:7480. PubMed
Salkeld, D. J., R. J. Eisen, P. Stapp, A. P. Wilder, J. L. Lowell, D. W. Tripp, D. Albertson, and M. F. Antolin. 2007. The potential role of swift foxes (Vulpes velox) and their fleas in prairie-dog plague (Yersinia pestis) outbreaks. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 43:425431. PubMed
Salkeld, D. J. and P. Stapp. 2006. Seroprevalence rates and transmission of plague (Yersinia pestis) in mammalian carnivores. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases 6:231239. CrossRef, PubMed
Stapp, P., M. F. Antolin, and M. Ball. 2004. Patterns of extinction in prairie dog metapopulations: Plague outbreaks follow El Niño events. Frontiers in Ecology and Environment 2:235240. CrossRef
Stark, H. E. 1958. The Siphonaptera of Utah; their taxonomy, distribution, host relations, and medical importance. U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Atlanta, Georgia, 239 p.
Stevenson, H. L., Y. Bai, M. Y. Kosoy, J. A. Montenieri, J. L. Lowell, M. C. Chu, and K. L. Gage. 2003. Detection of novel Bartonella strains and Yersinia pestis in prairie dogs and their fleas (Siphonaptera: Ceratophyllidae and Pulicidae) using multiplex polymerase chain reaction. Journal of Medical Entomology 40:329337. Abstract, PubMed, CSA
Ubico, S. R., G. O. Maupin, K. A. Fagerstone, and R. G. McLean. 1988. A plague epizootic in the white-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys leucurus) of Meeteetse, Wyoming. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 24:399406. PubMed, CSA
Wilder, A. P., R. J. Eisen, S. W. Bearden, J. A. Montenieri, K. L. Gage, and M. F. Antolin. 2008. Oropsylla hirsuta (Siphonaptera: Ceratophyllidae) can support plague epizootics in black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) by early-phase transmission of Yersinia pestis. Vector-borne and Zoonotic Diseases (In press).
Wilson, K., O. N. Bjornstad, A. P. Dobson, S. Merler, G. Poglayen, S. E. Randolph, A. F. Read, and A. Skorping. 2002. Heterogeneities in macroparasite infections: Patterns and processes. In The ecology of wildlife diseases, P. J. Hudson, A. Rizzoli, B. T. Grenfell, H. Heesterbeek, and A. P. Dobson (eds.). Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K., p. 6–44.

Figure 1.Seasonal changes in relative abundance of Oropsylla hirsuta (black) and Oropsylla tuberculata cynomuris (gray). Data were pooled from all years; there was no sampling carried out in April

Figure 2.Mean (±1 SE) flea loads in all burrows and in infested burrows, and the proportion of burrows that were infested with fleas, on prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) colonies before, during, and after plague epizootics. Values in parentheses are the numbers of colonies included in each plague status category. For a given variable, bars with different letters were significantly different among plague status categories (ANOVA, with Tukey's multiple comparisons tests; P ≤ 0.05). Bars without letters were not significantly different from any of the others

table

Table I.Summary of fleas found in prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) burrows on the Pawnee National Grasslands, Weld Co., Colorado. We sampled 3,013 burrows, though some of these burrows may be duplicates over time. An additional 390 fleas remain unidentified

table

Table II.Published reports of flea species in prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) burrows

click this button to close

Article Views

click this button to open

Citing Articles

 
BioOne is the product of innovative collaboration between scientific societies, libraries, academe and the private sector.
 
21 Dupont Circle NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20036 • Phone 202.296.2296 • Fax 202.872.0884
 
Copyright © 2009 BioOne All rights reserved